Artist Spotlight: Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda is Dropping ZIGGURATS

About the episode

Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park and Fort Minor fame joins Kevin to discuss why he was initially reluctant to embrace the NFT scene (in spite of setting Kevin on the path to his own obsession), drumming up acceptance of NFTs in the mainstream, industry skeuomorphism, current collaborations, the state of unreleased Linkin Park music, and where people can go to await Mike’s upcoming ZIGGURATS drop.

About our guest

Mike Shinoda

Mike Shinoda is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, artist, record producer, and co-founder of Machine Shop Records. He co-founded Linkin Park in 1996 and is the band’s lead vocalist, as well as rhythm guitarist, keyboardist, primary songwriter, and producer. Mike later created a hip-hop-driven side project, Fort Minor, in 2004.

Topics covered

Links from the episode

Show notes

• Who is Mike Shinoda? [00:56]
• How Mike was single-handedly responsible for getting Kevin hooked on NFTs, and why he himself was a little late to embrace them. [01:43]
• Does Mike own any CryptoPunks? What other NFT projects has he collected so far? [06:58]
• The NFT artist whose work Mike wishes he had in his collection. [08:38]
• Mike’s path from aspiring illustrator to genuine rock star, and the red flags that made him doubt the artistic integrity of some of the earlier NFT projects he was seeing. [10:17]
• How do layered NFT projects on Async work? [14:06]
• Mike shares the details of his current generative music NFT project. [16:45]
• The drawbacks to the rapid pace of change in today’s NFT space. [22:57]
• What got Mike back into NFTs after his initial reluctance, and why he found the experience so satisfying. [24:28]
• NFT artists with whom Mike has been collaborating. [26:00]
• How much will it cost to mint fresh ZIGGURATS? [27:10]
• What attracted Mike to Hic et Nunc (HEN) and Tezos? [27:19]
• Thoughts on the recent Hic et Nunc drama and if it will have any effect on the ZIGGURATS drop. [29:22]
• Where can people go to await the ZIGGURATS drop? [32:31]
• How does Mike see the technologies surrounding NFTs affecting the business side of media and how it’s packaged for the consumer? [34:14]
• In what ways will audience participation be empowered by blockchain to support artists? [37:42]
• The benefits to drumming up acceptance of NFTs in the mainstream and the countless ways they can be utilized beyond their popular perception as expensive JPGs. [41:10]
• Are decentralized solutions the answer to everything? [44:08]
• As an artist himself, what does Mike keep an eye out for when he’s collecting NFTs? Who are the artists who have captured his attention lately? [44:41]
• Thoughts on photography-based NFTs, the DAOs that want to buy them, and the platforms that want to host them. [49:52]
• Does Mike plan on integrating NFTs with Linkin Park or Fort Minor? [51:54]
• Why NFT collectors should have Avenged Sevenfold on their radar. [53:22]
• On the PleasrDAO rescue of Wu-Tang Clan’s Once Upon a Time in Shaolin album. [54:58]
• How many hours of unreleased Linkin Park material is Mike currently sitting on? [56:17]
• It’s been a busy week for a Bored Ape. [57:58]
• Parting thoughts. [1:00:45]

People mentioned

• Ryan Hoover
• Billy Markus
• Tim Ferriss
• XCOPY
• Banksy
• Mark Wakefield
• Chester Bennington
• Esteban Diacono
• Pak
• m4t
• Gary Vaynerchuk
• Dylan Reed
• CodeCrafting
• Rafael Lima
• 3LAU
• Diela Maharanie
• Des Lucréce
• 𝔴𝔥𝔞𝔱 𝔦𝔰 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩?
• Dalek
• Max Capacity
• Nate Hill
• Wax//Wane
• Mumu the Stan
• Justin Aversano
• Matthew Charles Sanders
• Brian Elwin Haner Jr.
• Tupac Shakur
• j1mmy.eth
• Nick Adler
• Post Malone
• Timbaland